Over the last decade, racialized immigrant women in Canada increased to over fifty percent of migrants. Compounded by rising costs of living, food insecurity, and supporting family back home, immigrant women are finding themselves in urgent need of employment. Such examples arose and continue to manifest during the Covid-19 pandemic in which husbands who worked alone in Canada, supporting their familiar abroad, found themselves unemployed and unable to secure social services and support.
Notwithstanding the assumption that women are to take care of the home and family, women stepped up and undertook employment opportunities that ultimately, no naturalized citizen or white Canadian entertained. In this sense, immigrant women are disadvantaged at home and work. And although Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada continue to enhance their settlement policies – employers are already well-aware of immigrant womens’ vulnerabilities within Canada’s economy.
But Why That Job?
Among the familiar staples of jobs held by immigrant women include caretaker, cleaner, healthcare worker, office assistants, food service workers, and many more jobs under the guise of economic freedom. Today’s immigration policies in Canada heavily favour educated, “high-skilled” workers in which accredited educational institutions allow immigrants to enter the workforce.
This means that the lack of recognition of foreign credentials, a lack of Canadian work experience, and their lack of network connections significantly affect Canada’s immigration process. In addition, beyond Canada and the Western world, women are finding themselves in cultures and nations rife with gender equality – manifested as issues of food insecurity, lack of education, unemployment, and lack of meaningful economic opportunity.
As a result, women are vulnerable to employers who are aware that their applicants, whether in low-paying or manual labour jobs, may not be able to secure employment elsewhere. In this sense, employers are satisfying their labour budget while attracting vulnerable immigrant women into abusive and underpaid jobs.
Gendered Effects of Covid-19
In addition to existing economic inequality, the Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated the inequity immigrant women face in Canada. From 2019 to 2020, immigrant women in Canada experienced a 7 percent increase in unemployment. Further, university-educated women were the most likely to experience unemployment from 2019 to 2020.
As such, education seldom leads to economic prosperity. The economy is not a monolithic concept. It is deeply interconnected with the social, cultural, and political structures. For this reason, highly educated immigrant women continue to experience economic hardships and are forced into low-skill, part-time, and high-risk occupations.
Further, the inability of some immigrant and migrant workers to travel home during the pandemic has severely impacted women whose immigration status is tied to the Temporary Foreign Workers Program, Live-in Caregiver Program and the Caregiver stream.
The following programs follow the 4 and 4 rule, meaning that migrant workers in low-wage jobs who have had work permits for four years total will not be able to renew their work permits for another four years. In this way, migrant women are forced into dire situations and are vulnerable to trafficking, domestic violence, and housing and food insecurity.
The Great Resignation
Alongside the experiences of racialized immigrant women, Canada’s employers are grappling with a reported 731 900 job vacancies in the second quarter of 2021. However, there is no shortage of educated, skilled immigrant women in Canada. Therefore, the responsibility is on employers to realize the economic and social implications associated with increased employment of racialized immigrant women.
Although the mantra for privileged, well-positioned Canadians has been to “do what you love” and quit your job, the same luxuries are not experienced by immigrant women. Thus, the Great Resignation signifies a success for younger, highly educated Canadians and highlights the inherent devaluation of immigrant women. Fundamentally, the dominant attitude concerning immigrant women is that they are just not good “enough.”
However, the large number of vacant job postings does not mean that only racialized, vulnerable women should fill McDonald’s, Tim Horton’s and other low-skill jobs. In turn, employers need to adopt a method of attracting and retaining immigrant women, including adopting anti-racism practices.
Growing Your Network
To counter racism, sexism, and the political and economic structures hindering immigrant women in Canada, growing your personal and community networks is crucial to attracting desired social and economic outcomes. In this sense, employers’ work to change their hiring practices, along with immigration and settlement reforms, are co-created with the efforts and desires of immigrant women.
For example, Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers provides targeted programming and supports immigrant women’s employment. In enabling a space of open, transparent, and reciprocal support for immigrant women located in Edmonton, a community of care and respect manifests. Without strong social and community relationships, finding the appropriate services required for economic success is increasingly challenging.
Collective Responsibility of Care
Unless you find yourself in the most cushioned social and economic position, everyone struggles at one point or another to find a job. With the burden of caretaking and home labour on women, immigrant women specifically require increased social and economic services and support. With this in mind, building care and support networks are beneficial for everyone.
Caring for others takes time, effort, and empathy to understand the experiences of those around you, despite not fully experiencing their circumstance. Even if it emerges in donations, volunteering, or advocacy for immigrant women – all efforts serve to establish a new narrative of responsibility of care.
*The following list includes programs, services, resources, and social networks serving Edmonton’s immigrant women communities:
Changing Together – A Center for Immigrant Women
Edmonton Mennonite Centre for Newcomers
Alberta Network of Immigrant Women
Immigrant Women’s Integration Network of Alberta
Edmonton Region Immigrant Employment Council
Edmonton Immigrant Services Association
Edmonton Social Planning Council
*Includes legal, economic, social, and culturally appropriate services and programs
Monica Bassili is a fourth-year University of Alberta student double majoring in Political Science and Human Geography and Planning. Monica has been active within her community since grade school and has dedicated her work to benefiting the public good. Furthermore, Monica is working towards three certificates: international learning, sustainability, and Indigenous governance and perspectives. In this way, Monica is able to understand systemic issues in depth and develop intercultural communication skills that serve to facilitate projects in and around Edmonton. Monica’s focus is on public service and specifically, developing tools that serve underrepresented communities and individuals in need.
